And all her great men were bound in chains.

11 Thou also shalt drink to the full;

Thou, too, shalt be hidden;

Thou shalt seek a refuge from the enemy!

12 All thy strong-holds shall be like fig-trees with the first ripe figs;

If they be shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater. 13 Behold, thy people shall be women in the midst of thee; The gates of thy land shall be set wide open to thine ene

mies;

The fire shall devour thy bars.

14 Draw thee water for the siege,

Fortify thy strongholds.

Go into the clay, and tread the mortar;

Repair the brick-kiln !

15 Then shall the fire devour thee;

The sword shall cut thee off,

It shall devour thee like the locust;

Though thou art increased like the locusts,

Though thou art increased like the thick locusts.

16 Thy merchants have been more numerous than the stars

of heaven;

The locusts spread themselves and fly away.

17 Thy princes are like locusts,

And thy captains like swarms of locusts,

Which encamp in the hedges in the time of cold;

But when the sun ariseth, they flee away,

And the place is not known where they are.

18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria!

Thy nobles take their rest,

Thy people are scattered on the mountains, and none gathereth them.

19 Thy bruise is incurable;

Thy wound is mortal.

All that hear of thee shall clap their hands over thee; For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?

ZEPHANIAH.

INSCRIPTION.

1 THE word of Jehovah, which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.

I.

Destruction of Judah threatened. Exhortation to repentance. Punishment of the enemies of Judah. — CH. I., II.

2

I WILL utterly consume all things from the face of the land, saith Jehovah ;

3 I will consume man and beast;

I will consume the birds of heaven, and the fishes of the

sea,

And the stumbling-blocks with the wicked;

And I will cut off man from the face of the land, saith Jehovah.

4 I will stretch out my hand over Judah,

And over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

And I will cut off from this place the residue of Baal,
The name of the idol-sacrificers with the priests,

5 And those who bow themselves on the house-tops to the

host of heaven,

And those who bow themselves and swear by Jehovah,

And also swear by their idol,

6 And those that turn back from Jehovah,

7

And those that seek not Jehovah, nor inquire for him.

For Jehovah hath prepared a sacrifice;

He hath appointed his guests.

8 And in the day of the sacrifice of Jehovah it shall come to

pass

That I will punish the princes and the sons of the king, And all that are clothed with foreign apparel.

9 In that day also will I punish all that leap over the threshold,

That fill the houses of their master with violence and de

ceit.

10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah,
That there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish-gate,
And of a howling from the other part of the city,
And of great destruction from the hills.

11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh!

For all the trafficking people are cut down;
All they that bear silver are destroyed.

12 And it shall come to pass at that time,

That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,

And I will punish the men that are settled on their lees; That say in their hearts,

"Jehovah doeth neither good nor evil.”

13 Their substance shall become a spoil,

14

And their houses a desolation;

They shall also build houses, but not inhahit them;

And shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

The day of Jehovah is near, the great day;

It is near, and hasteth greatly;

The day of Jehovah shall resound;

Bitterly shall the mighty man cry for help.

15 That day is a day of wrath,

A day of distress and anguish,

A day of destruction and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,

16 A day of the trumpet and the war-shout,
Against the fenced cities,

And against the high towers.

17 And I will distress the men, so that they shall walk like

the blind,

Because they have sinned against Jehovah.

And their blood shall be poured out as dust,

And their flesh as dung.

18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Jehovah,

1

But by the fire of his indignation shall the whole land be devoured;

For destruction, and that a speedy one, will he bring
Upon all that dwell in the land.

Search yourselves; yea, search,

O nation without shame!

2 Before the decree bring forth,

Before the day come upon you like chaff;

Before the fierce anger of Jehovah come upon you, Before the day of the anger of Jehovah come upon you. 3 Seek ye Jehovah, all ye lowly of the land,

4

Ye, who obey his commands!

Seek righteousness; seek lowliness;

It may be that ye shall be hid in the day of the anger of Jehovah.

For Gaza shall be forsaken,

And Askelon a desolation;

Ashdod shall be driven out at noonday,

And Ekron shall be rooted up.

5 Woe to the inhabitants of the sea-coasts, the nation of the Cherethites!

This is the word of Jehovah against you, O Canaan, land

of the Philistines:

"I will destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant." 6 And the sea-coast shall be pastures full of habitations for shepherds, and folds for flocks.

7 The coast shall be for the residue of the house of Judah; Thereon shall they feed;

In the houses of Askelon shall they lie down in the evening;

For Jehovah their God will look upon them, and bring

back their captives.

8

I have heard the reproach of Moab,

And the revilings of the sons of Ammon,

With which they have reproached my people,

And exalted themselves against their borders.

9 Therefore, as I live, saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of

Israel,

Moab shall be as Sodom,

And the sons of Ammon as Gomorrah,

A possession for thorns, and a pit for salt, and a perpetual desolation.

The residue of my people shall spoil them,

And the remainder of my nation shall possess them. 10 This shall come upon them for their pride,

Because they have uttered reproaches, and exalted themselves against the people of Jehovah of hosts.

11 Jehovah will be terrible against them;

12

For he will destroy all the gods of the earth;

And before him shall worship, every one from his place, All the islands of the nations.

Ye, also, O Ethiopians!

Ye shall be slain by my sword!

13 He will also stretch out his hand against the North,

And destroy Assyria,

And make Nineveh a desolation,

Even dry like a desert.

14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her,

Yea, all the tribes of wild beasts;

The pelican and the hedgehog shall lodge in the capitals of

!"

15 This is the rejoicing city that dwelt in security, That said in her heart, "I, and none besides me! Now is she become a desolation, a resting-place for wild

beasts!

Every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.